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Facebook wants to replace your morning newspaper. Paper, the latest app from the web behemoth, is an ambitious attempt to not only redefine your Facebook experience, but also provide you with information that you normally rely on newspapers for. I decided to test the app myself to see whether it was as good as FB claims, and whether or not you should consider downloading it.

While waiting for the app to download I noticed the by-line: Paper|Stories from Facebook. The app’s focus on stories would soon become apparent. After downloading the app, I was greeted by a simple start up screen and a voice tutorial guided me through the basics of setting my preferences and navigating the app. So far so good.

You probably didn’t read about this app in the Herald last week, but here is BlogDailyHerald’s official endorsement of Professor Dietrich Neumann’s pet tech project. Way back in the fall in 2011, Neumann taught an undergraduate research seminar in which students collected information about our very own beloved (and in the case of SciLi, tolerated) Brown buildings. The app contains historical and architectural factoids about 131 buildings on campus, and this adorable map that has emoji-like images categorizing said buildings.

It is actually very exciting to be able to answer questions as ubiquitously asked as “Why is the SciLi so ugly?” Apparently, the building was designed in the “Brutalist” architectural style, popular in the 1960s and 70s. It’s just representative of yet another bad trend of decades past, like a picture of your mom and all her friends with ill-suited perms aplenty. Fun fact: the architects actually suggested building the library in pink marble, just so it’d be slightly cuter, but of course the corporation rejected the idea. Bureaucracy!!

While there are definitely benefits to staying connected with people on social media, our networks are often cluttered with people whom we may be connected to, but with whom we don’t have genuine social relationships. It’s hard to sift through the clutter and find out what are closest friends are up to on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and mass texting can be a real pain. Noah Fradin ’15 and Isaac Blankensmith RISD ’13 saw the need to stay connected with large groups of people in real time, and started working to address that need. Together, they created Punch, a brand new app that allows you to connect and meet up with groups of friends instantaneously. The app has absolutely blown up and earned a huge following on campus since its launch, and can change the way you go about communicating with friends. BlogDH sat down with one of Punch’s co-creators, Noah Fradin ’15, to learn more about how Punch is revolutionizing the app world. Check out the interview after the jump. Continue Reading

It would have been so much easier to find where in the world Carmen San Diego was with this app.

If you’ve never heard of the iPhone app Find My Friends, you clearly haven’t maximized your stalking capabilities. The app lets you track where your friends (or at least their iPhones) are at any given time, if they agree to share their location with you. There a few times when this can come in really handy, but most of the time, it’s just plain creepy. Use the following rankings to see how creepy your use of Find My Friends is, on a scale from Actually Useful to Your Friend Should Get a Restraining Order.

Seeing if your friend is in the Ratty so you’ll have someone to sit with — A little creepy. We all know how awkward it is to wander around the Ratty balancing your loaded tray, hoping you’ll see someone you know so you won’t have to sit alone at one of those awkwardly big tables. Using Find My Friends is a practical way to see if you’ll have friends to sit with, or if you should go eat Chobanis by yourself in your dorm room. But you could also just text your friends to see if they want to grab lunch…

Discovering that two of your friends are secretly hooking up — Stalkward. If you happen to open Find My Friends and see two of your friends right next to each other in one of their dorm rooms all night, it’s pretty clear that something’s going down. This is when stalking gets awkward. Secret lovers, remember to hide your location on “Find My Friends” when sneaking off to one another’s rooms. Actually, this is probably a good thing to do in general if you have stalking-inclined friends (and who doesn’t?).

New Year’s Resolution 2013: I was not going to be alone on Valentine’s Day. This year, I would open my heart, find love, and live happily ever after. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. A real relationship requires honesty, integrity, and never, ever forgetting to shave your legs. But I knew could do it. And I had discovered just the place to find love: Tinder.

If you haven’t experienced the glory of Tinder, let me spell it out for you. Tinder is an iPhone app that links into your Facebook, takes your profile picture and age, and then creates a profile, which can be viewed by other Tinder users located near you. Those Tinder users can then vote “yes” or “no” to your picture. If a person says yes to your picture, and you say yes to their picture, then Tinder allows you two to talk. It seemed the best way to really get to know my future mate.

Follow @techaccino for semi-instant updates, and advice on whether to buy a “new” iPad.

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s over 70 degrees outside, which means most college students are either already on Spring Break or have mentally checked out in preparation for break (or both?). The point is, when the time comes to pack for your week off, you should make sure you have as few things on your plate as possible because (1) your flight/train/car ride will likely be very early in the morning and (2) you will likely be hungover from partying the night before. So, before you forget, just scroll down to your Spring Break destination below and follow the instructions to download the most important app you will need for your trip.

Aaah, the sandy, fratty beaches, and the loud, pumping house music. If only there were something other than Natty Light to drink around here… Enter Mixology! It’s the best, cheapest, most complete drink recipe app out there; with the ‘Liquor Cabinet’ option, you can enter the liquor and mixer types you have, and it spits out all the possible cocktails you can make.

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